Jakarta – Commander of the National Campaign Team’s Bravo Communication Team (TKN) Prabowo Gibran, Budisatrio Djiwandono explained that the nation’s self-sufficiency in food will be the top priority if the number 2 pair is elected to lead Indonesia. This is absolutely necessary because a food crisis is looming.
“The main sector targeted for self-sufficiency by Prabowo Gibran is food, water, and energy. In this sector, we must no longer depend on imports. Especially regarding food, Mr. Prabowo has stated that food is a matter of life and death for a nation,” Budisatrio told reporters in Jakarta (Sunday, 13/1).
The Chairman of Commission IV of the Indonesian Parliament, which oversees agriculture, food, and maritime affairs, explained that there is currently a food deficit in Indonesia due to population growth accompanied by a decrease in land productivity. He gave the example of the crisis that occurred with rice.
“BPS data shows that every year our population increases by around 3 million people. And this population growth has not been accompanied by an increase in crop land. Meanwhile, rice is consumed by almost all citizens,” he said.
This deficit, according to Budisatrio, cannot be covered by relying on imports from abroad.
“Learning from the incident of wheat when the war broke out between Ukraine and Russia, the supply chain was disrupted so that the price of wheat, which is very dependent on imports, sharply increased. We must not let this happen to rice, which is our main food,” he said.
To address this, Prabowo Gibran targets a minimum increase of four million hectares of crop land in a program called the Food Barn.
“This food barn will exist from the smallest level of the village by the farmers, to the national level by continuing the food estate. The way to do this is by increasing the planting index, intensifying and utilizing unused land,” Budisatrio said.
“Digital technology for agriculture will also be a priority. We will create new rice fields and at the same time increase the productivity of existing land with digital and modern tools and technology. There is no other choice, this must be done,” he continued.
In the context of the presidential election itself, Budisatrio urges that the food crisis can be a healthy discussion idea because it is related to the future of the country.
“Support for food issues should be a common agreement. We actually look forward to various ideas to deal with the food crisis from each pair of candidates. From Prabowo Gibran it is clear, we will continue the food estate and improve it into a Food Barn,” Budisatrio concluded. (SENOPATI)
Source: https://prabowosubianto.com/krisis-pangan-di-depan-mata-prabowo-gibran-siapkan-swasembada-lewat-program-lumbung-pangan/
